Kalamazoo County's unemployment rate dropped to 5.6% in November 2012

The Hanna Family (from left) Trisha, Bill and Jennifer of Parchment waiting for the Target store on South Westnedge Avenue in Portage to open on Thanksgiving night. Area retailers added 500 seasonal jobs in Kalamazoo County in November.Matt Gade | MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette

KALAMAZOO, MI – The government and
retailers were hiring in November 2012, but other sectors didn't
follow suit in Kalamazoo County, according to numbers released Jan. 3 by the
Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget.

Stores may have hired extra help for
the holidays, but those gains were offset by seasonal cuts in
construction and leisure and hospitality, wrote Leonidas Murembya,
regional analyst for the Bureau of Labor Market Relations &
Strategic Initiatives in Jackson, in his monthly report.

Kalamazoo lost 1,375 jobs between
October and November 2012. Aside from a cut in manufacturing that led
to a loss of an estimated 300 jobs, Murembya said, the losses were
seasonal and expected. And the overall picture for the year is still
in positive territory, with 2,250 more jobs in Kalamazoo County in
2012. That was the highest gain reported in the region, Murembya
wrote.

“The over-the-year comparison is a
better way to tell: Are we growing or are we shrinking?” said
Murembya.

The Kalamazoo-Portage MSA, which
includes Kalamazoo and Van Buren Counties, edged down 0.2 percent to 6.0 in November, down
1.3 percentage points from a year earlier.

“Nonfarm payroll jobs in the
Kalamazoo-Portage MSA (Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties) inched down
by 300 in November, mostly due to a job cut in manufacturing,”
wrote Murembya. “Leisure and hospitality lost 400 jobs, while
employment in construction was down 300. On a positive note, retail
trade hired 500 seasonal workers in November.”

November's election also led to a bump
in temporary government hiring, with 400 more jobs, he noted.

“One thing that we noticed is that
many local governments hired helpers for the election,” said
Murembya.

While Battle Creek, Grand Rapids and
Jackson all reported unemployment rates lower than November 2003
levels this month, the Kalamazoo-Portage MSA has yet to reach that
benchmark, Murembya wrote. Still, he added in the interview, since November 2009, the unemployment rate in the Kalamazoo-Portage
MSA has dropped 4.6 percent from a high of 10.6 percent.

For the year, professional and business services led growth in the area, with an increase of 1,000 jobs, while private education and health services increased by 800. Leisure and
hospitality and retail trade added 400 jobs each.